Unlike America's paper comics, French ones are glossy hardbacks. French men (as most readers are) build up collections rather as British men once collected vinyl records. Rows of comic-book albums can be found on the bookshelves of even the most bourgeois Parisian households.

Uncut reports that "The Drugs Don't Work" by the Verve has topped a list of songs that make people feel sad, according to a scientific study.

Dr Witchel commenting on the results said, "Music is undeniably powerful at triggering different emotional states. Changes in tempo and frequencies induce profoundly different emotional states. A slow tempo song like the Verve's The Drugs Don't Work slows down the heart compared to most of the other songs and compared to white noise - in other words, it works like the emotional state of sadness.”